Explanation:
Presenting a sleek needle-like
profile
the magnificent spiral galaxy
NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from
planet Earth.
Its core of stars bulges from the centre of a thin disk of
spiral arms and dust.
The core appears to be cut sharply by dust lanes to dramatic effect in
this composite image.
NGC 4565's obscuring dust lanes and pronounced core are typical of
large majestic spiral galaxies, including our
own Milky Way.
To make this picture, astronomer Bill McLaughlin digitally combined
a high quality black and white image with colour information from three
separate exposures through red, green, and blue filters.
This island universe is about 50 million light-years away in the
constellation Coma Berenices.